Person who gave information about Pearse Jordan was later murdered

Pearse Jordan shot dead by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 1992

A person who gave information which may have led to police shooting dead an unarmed IRA man in Northern Ireland almost 20 years ago was later murdered.

The death was revealed by Belfast coroner, Brian Sherrard, ahead of the opening of an inquest into the death of Pearse Jordan.

The 23-year-old was shot in west Belfast in 1992.

His death is one of a number of so-called shoot-to-kill incidents which are being investigated.

While discussing legal matters ahead of next month's inquest into Mr Jordan's death, Mr Sherrard said: "There was also some post event information concerning the murder of a person who was thought perhaps to have given information that led to the death or to the operation that culminated sadly in the death of Mr Jordan.

"It was not my view that that, in and of itself, added anything to the inquest and the task that we will face."

The coroner has been considering 21 files of largely irrelevant material from the Lord Stevens Inquiry into security force collusion.

Mr Sherrard said two documents had emerged which he had considered relevant and which will be distributed to Mr Jordan's family's legal representatives.

Relevance

"There was one officer who was scrutinised to some extent in the course of Lord Stevens' inquiry but eventually nothing arose with regard to that," he said.

He said the two documents were picked out by him as he had cause to scrutinise them further.

"Ultimately I felt that there was no relevance to them," he added.

Barrister for the Jordan family, Karen Quinlivan QC, said she wanted to see them to consider whether further representations should be made.

His case has been delayed because of a string of legal challenges which led to a hearing in the European Court of Human Rights in 2001.

Mr Jordan was shot dead by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 1992.

It was part of a series of events known as security force alleged shoot-to-kill incidents.

The inquest into Mr Jordan's death is due to start on 6 June.

There is still a series of other matters outstanding including anonymity applications for 11 witnesses at the inquest and the granting of state Public Interest Immunity Certificates, which can prevent the disclosure of information if it would damage the public interest.

An inquiry into security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries by former Metropolitan police chief Lord Stevens revealed the material, which was passed to Mr Sherrard recently.